The Solara's so much better than Beemers

[pantyninja]

I just wanted to throw some light on this issue. Looking through the road test summary of Road and Track July 2004 issue, there are some interesting things to notice. I like to use Road and Track because they seem a bit more realistic than say car and driver(always seem a bit fast).
First off he Solara loses to the 330i to 60mph by a half second. No argument here. Every publication has the 330i winning to 60. THings get interesting from there. Quarter mile has the BMW winning by .3 seconds. Very respectable for the 25k Solara. Basically a dead heat.
Skid pad, slalom and fuel mileage all won handily by BMW.
Braking was won by the Solara and by quite a comfortable margin.

So what conclusions can we draw. Is the BMW a solid perfoming car? It certainly is Will it blow away a Solara? definitely not. If a 15 thousand dollar price difference only nets me 3 tenths in the quarter or 5 tenths to 60 I'll take my 24k Solara anyday regardless of the longer warranty or free maintenance. I can do without the snob factor and I will take the extra interior space, better fit and finish, and to me better styling.

The BMW is going to outgun the Solara through twisties no question but if you give me 5k for suspension and tires I can run circles around the 330i through any autocross and still be 10k less.

This is a good topic. Sometimes apples and oranges can be compared. It's all about where you place value

[angelo]

Well considering the pasting I put on a 325/328 (see my racing thread) today with my Gen1, I will argue that till the cows come home. The only thing they have that I want is RWD. That's it. I'll take the Solara's engine, trany, and interior finishing over a BMW's any day. Plus, the money I save would cover half the cost of a GREAT ring for my lil lady.

And just to re-emphasize it, BMW'S RELIABILITY RATINGS SUCK!

Solara's engine, and tranny? Dude, the tranny is smooth, that's it. So is the engine, which Toyota intends for economy purposes...

Your race is just a highway race. How about try launching the car from 0 and wheelhop all the way?

To me, Solara is just Toyota's attempt to make a sporty-looking cruiser. Ever since they discontinued the Supra TT, there's no real sports car (other than the MRS and excluding Lexus) in their lineup.

IS300 on the other hand can compete with the 3-series, especially when you can just bolt on the MKIV Supra parts like the 4pot calipers without any modifications.

Just be happy of what we get, which isn't intended to be a 3-series conpetitor.

<hr><hr>
Of course Solara is not a 3-series competitor. If Toyota wanted a 3-series competitor should have started with Corolla...

[bkp_duke]

Also I was under the impression that the Solara slushbox was very efficient with a minimal loss of power.

From everything I have heard, it is VERY efficient for an auto. But where the solara really has a disadvantage would be the gear ratios. Also, I don't remember if it has it, but if the 330 is 6-speed, it has one extra gear over the auto solara and therefore can stay in the powerband much better.

[angelo]

I don't know how you decided that 330 auto is faster than the Solara?!?
In the tests I've ever seen 330 is usually 0.4-0.5 sec slower than the V6 Solara - it is not even a contest...
eg. Car & Driver tested 330 auto (Oct 02) for 7.3s 0-60 and 15.6s for a quater (the same source tested Solara for 6.9s) . It is worse than the worst times I've ever seen for the Solara...
I've driven 330 auto and it has better tip-in and faster transmition shifting than the Solara but the pull is nowhere near it...
It is even more obvoius if you compare Solara to the 5-series...
BTW, the RWD i the BMW gives it an advantage from the dead start, but it is a disadvantage from most of the rolling starts since the FWD is much more efficient.
I am a former BMW owner and I love the chasis and the driving dynamics but I hate that BMW failed to upgrade its aged 6-cyl...

[Astro]

I don't know how you decided that 330 auto is faster than the Solara?!?
In the tests I've ever seen 330 is usually 0.4-0.5 sec slower than the V6 Solara - it is not even a contest...
eg. Car & Driver tested 330 auto (Oct 02) for 7.3s 0-60 and 15.6s for a quater (the same source tested Solara for 6.9s) . It is worse than the worst times I've ever seen for the Solara...
I've driven 330 auto and it has better tip-in and faster transmition shifting than the Solara but the pull is nowhere near it...
It is even more obvoius if you compare Solara to the 5-series...
BTW, the RWD i the BMW gives it an advantage from the dead start, but it is a disadvantage from most of the rolling starts since the FWD is much more efficient.
I am a former BMW owner and I love the chasis and the driving dynamics but I hate that BMW failed to upgrade its aged 6-cyl...

Very interesting. I was always let to believe they were faster.

[invdrgir]

Astro wrote:
bkp_duke wrote:
(as long as they do something with that bubble a$$ in the next revision).


I would like to see it go too, but I'm afraid that won't happen.

Larry


Yup! I agree. Voted worst rear-end of 2004!

I think i have to disagree with you o this one, I'm a fan of the bubble-butt. You know why? B/c it keeps people guessing as to wut the car is. i know i've walked outta my car and people thought i pulled up in an SC430. In fact, i wanna find an SC430 emblem and put it on the back of my car. COnfuse the living hell outta dumba**es

hey i found this one website that sells lexus emblems.. i dunno if the website is legit but it looks legit enough. but i definately like your idea and think it would be great to add that emblem after removing the toyota and solara emblem to confuse people

here is the webstie
http://lextasy.com/lexus_emblems_35_ctg.htm

if you do decide to try it out let us know how it goes

[impactX]

ROFL, didn't know we are including price into this discussion.

How about I put 5k worth of mods on a Mustang GT which will make the stang outrun and outhandle a Solara with 5k of mods?

People who brag about Toyota's fwd cruisers' "superiority" obviously have never worked on the platform and find out little things that Toyota cheaped out on.

[Astro]

ROFL, didn't know we are including price into this discussion.

How about I put 5k worth of mods on a Mustang GT which will make the stang outrun and outhandle a Solara with 5k of mods?

People who brag about Toyota's fwd cruisers' "superiority" obviously have never worked on the platform and find out little things that Toyota cheaped out on.

Yeah, but I'll still take Toyota's reliability over power ANY DAY!

Larry

[mizmeggsm]

I have a 99 slev6 solara, and my boyfriend has a 99 528i bmw..... his car is way nicer than mine hands down. they are on two different levels and there is no comparison, i can't beleive you would even mention an m3 and a solara in the same sentence. "That's ignorant" - Michael Jackson on South Park.

My Solara is hard as hell, don't get me wrong, but I'm waiting for my 740li. Black.